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More Brewing Co., two other downtown Bartlett businesses receive village grants

Bartlett's economic development grant program just had its biggest month yet with three downtown projects getting a boost, including the forthcoming new location of Villa Park-based More Brewing Co.

The 8,000-square-foot restaurant and brew pub, being built on the southeast corner of Railroad and South Oak avenues, received the maximum $50,000 amount from the Bartlett Economic Development Assistance program to put toward eligible aspects of its roughly $4 million investment in the site.

"It's the biggest development project in our downtown for quite a while," Bartlett Economic Development Coordinator Tony Fradin said.

More Brewing Co., which operates locations in Villa Park and Huntley, is expected to open in Bartlett this spring.

Company owners - brothers Perry and Sunny Patel - bought the former site of Lucky Jack's for $101,000 from the village, which had previously acquired it to raze the vacant building constructed in the 1870s to make the land more marketable.

At the time of the sale, the brothers also received an economic incentive from the village offering a 50% rebate on its sales taxes up to $100,000 or for 10 years, whichever comes first. But the more recent BEDA grant is from a village program that invests Bartlett's portion of video gambling taxes in businesses that generate sales tax.

Originally intended to attract new businesses like More Brewing Co., the program also encourages reinvestment in existing businesses, Fradin said.

The grants are available for up to 50% of the cost of an eligible project, with $50,000 being the cap to ensure there's enough money for a variety of businesses to benefit.

Last month was the first time more than one grant was approved at a single village board meeting, with three businesses receiving one.

The others were Le P'tit, which received $41,000 to put toward the transformation of a 140-year-old barn into a nearly completed wine and tapas restaurant, and Pasta Mia, which will use a $20,825 grant for the replacement of some old windows into new sliding ones, Fradin said.

Pasta Mia is a good example of a long-standing business in the village benefiting from the grant, he added, being a bridge from the former Bartlett Plaza conversion into the new Streets of Bartlett development downtown.

Fradin said he's pleased the availability of the grants for business attraction and retention is on the rise.

Since 2019, the village has paid out $322,000. There have been a total of 19 grants approved, including these three most recent ones, providing $500,221 for projects bringing $7.9 million in investment to Bartlett.

Previous recipients have included the renovation of Streets of Bartlett, One Twenty Live, O'Hare's Pub/Midway Landings and Rebecca's Cakes.

Bartlett restaurateur Rakesh Chopra explains his plans to convert a 140-year-old historic barn into the now nearly completed Le P'tit wine bar and tapas restaurant. The project was among three recently awarded Bartlett Economic Development Assistance grants. Daily Herald file photo, 2021
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